The Null Device

25% more inebriated than Australia

Fact of the day: while both Britain and Australia have drinking cultures, Britons drink about 25% more alcohol than Australians. I wonder how much of that is a function of the function of a drink as a social prop and British pint glasses being larger than the ½- and ¾-pint glasses commonly used in Australia.

There are 5 comments on "25% more inebriated than Australia":

Posted by: Lisa Sat Dec 12 08:12:31 2009

HALF PINT

WTF

WUT R U LIEK PURITANS OR SMTH?

Posted by: Lisa Sat Dec 12 08:13:01 2009

PS UNACCEPTABLE

Posted by: Greg http://spill-label.org/blog Sun Dec 13 02:42:39 2009

The problem of violence during the party hours is getting a lot of press attention in Melbourne lately. It seems always to be assumed that it is caused by alcohol. (Personally I blame video games. Just kidding.) So it's interesting to see that, contrary to popular Australian belief, we are nowhere near the top of the scale in alcohol consumption. It would be interesting to see a chart of per-capita violence as well - maybe we drink less but fight more? Or maybe, as with consumption, it's all in our imagination and Australians don't really compare unfavourably at all. But if our violence is high and/or rising, but our alcohol consumption is not, that implies that something other than alcohol is causing the extra violence. What do people think might cause an increase in after-hours violence, if it's not alcohol?

Posted by: Sun Dec 13 02:58:18 2009

There could also be cultural transmission. Perhaps there's a culture of machismo or of honour, inherited from the convict days or ancestral communities, which influences reactions to events (much like the way that the increased murder rate in the US South is caused by the culture of honour inherited from Scotch-Irish cattle ranchers who emigrated in the 17th century, and transmitted by example).

Posted by: Tue Dec 15 21:28:52 2009

Maybe this has to do with prices? A friend who visited from Perth was amazed how cheap beer was in comparison to back in the AU. I know if I had to pay how much she was (2x-3x as much) for pints, I'd certainly scale back my drinking (OK, I would *try* at least)